As the popularity of sporting events has increased over recent years, so has corporate sponsorship. Corporate sponsorship can come in many forms such as through agreements with a league or governing body, an individual team an individual player/participant, or a particular venue. In all, the amount of money contributed by corporate sponsors to a given sport can amount to a sizable portion of total revenues of that sport. A key for any corporate sponsor, regardless of the nature of the sponsorship, is to create a link between that sport and the product or service of the corporation. The assumption is that fan loyalty will result in increased sales or revenues.
For example, in the sport of NASCAR.RTM. (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) Winston Cup Racing.RTM., corporate sponsors pay large sums of money to have a corporate logo or trademark affixed to a racecar, a driver's jumpsuit, or an embankment surrounding a track. Because of the large sums of money at issue, the corporate sponsors often monitor the amount of time their logo or trademark is seen by the broadcast audience during a particular event. Each second that the sponsor's logo or trademark is visible, the more valuable the sponsorship is to the corporation. As another example, corporate sponsors may set up promotional attractions at an actual raceway to solicit public attention to their sponsorship of a driver or drivers. The promotional attraction may be as simple as a booth with free promotional giveaways, or as sophisticated as a portable stage with an interactive ride such as a gravity-free chair, large screen display (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,792 to Long et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,833 to Kobayashi, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,756 to Gaspar), a transportable platform bar (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,414 to Dulnig et al.), or a cinema/pavilion (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,616 to Fernandez or U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,463 to Wright).
A successful promotional attraction associated with NASCAR events has been a video game trailer which can be set up at different racing events. The video game trailer typically comprises a long bed trailer that includes several arcade-type play stations which are networked together. Thus, several participants such as racing fans can compete against one another in a racing video game. The play stations may include a monitor, steering wheel, pedals and racing-style seat, much like one would find associated with a racing game in a video arcade. Video game trailers such as these are designed and manufactured by SSG, Trinity, N.C., USA.
The video game utilized by the video game trailers are usually modified versions of commercially available video games such as NASCAR Racing 2 developed by Papyrus, Inc., Watertown, Mass., USA. NACSCAR Racing 2 is an advanced software application that provides a sophisticated graphics and audio interface. However, as advanced as the video game program utilized in the video game trailer may be, the driver's perception of sitting in an open room (i.e., a trailer) next to six or more other participants detracts from the desired experience of the driver feeling like he or she you are actually driving a racecar.
Efforts have been made to recreate a more realistic environment for playing software program applications. One such effort has been the construction of full-scale replica NASCAR Winston Cup racing cars of the type that are manufactured by SSG. The cars manufactured by SSG are full-scale replicas of actual Winston Cup racecars. Each car is equipped with a computer for running simulation software applications, a monitor, a steering wheel and pedals. However, these cars are stand-alone units, which to the knowledge of the present inventor have not been networked with other cars for head-to-head competition. Thus, these cars are typically only capable of providing a relatively small-scale attraction that handles a relatively small volume of patrons throughout a day.
One effort at racing multiple drivers against one another is the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway by LBE Technologies, Inc., Cupertino, Calif., USA. The NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway provides simulated NASCAR racing utilizing stockcar simulators mounted to a motion platform, and three or more big screen projection screens are positioned in front of the simulators. The users may be provided with various controls such as a shifter, clutch, brake, accelerator, and steering wheel for controlling the car during an interactive race with a plurality of drivers in similar stockcar simulators. Several stockcar simulators are networked to race one another, and possibly several drone racers (ie., racecars controlled by the simulation software).
However, the stockcar simulators utilized in the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway are mechanically complex and bulky. The projection screens are taller than the stockcar simulators themselves, and are spaced apart from and wrapped around the stockcar simulators. In addition, each of the three or more big screens appears to have a respective projector mounted above or about the stockcar simulator. Further, the comprise a significant piece of mechanical equipment in order to be able to move the stockcar simulators in a manner that feels life-like. Therefore, the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway stockcar simulators do not appear to be well suited for transporting and setting up as an outdoor attraction.
Thus, a need exists for a portable promotional attraction that provides a life-like racing experience, and includes interactive racing between a plurality of drivers.